Regulations

Service above self. . . . the funeral director in 2020

By Funeral Director Daily / January 8, 2021 /

As we move into the weekend we bring you some reading material including an article on how the indigent funeral program in Ohio has more requests than usual because of a combination of not only COVID-19 deaths, but an uptick in opioid deaths as well. We also bring you a video and news story out…

United States passes 3 million deaths in 2020. . . first time ever

By Funeral Director Daily / December 28, 2020 /

The Associated Press recently reported in this article that the United States will, for the first time ever, pass the 3 million mark in actual deaths recorded in a single calendar year.  And, in what is not a surprise to anybody in the country in this COVID-19 year, the number of deaths will be an…

COVID relief bill may include funeral expense payments

By Funeral Director Daily / December 23, 2020 /

I had not intended to put out an Afternoon Edition of Funeral Director Daily today, however, when I looked at articles that came to me this morning, I found one that was right in the news and “right up our profession’s alley” so to speak.  I thought it might be timely with this in the…

Wilbert offering free CEU hours to funeral directors

By Funeral Director Daily / December 8, 2020 /

I’ve learned, and am not surprised, that there are companies out there that really understand that the coronavirus pandemic has been detrimental in many ways.  I never really thought about it but for those of us who like to get our continuing education hours in a live setting, we realize that those settings have been…

Death care, change, transparency, and the consumer perspective

By Funeral Director Daily / December 7, 2020 /

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to read two different articles with two different perspectives of the death care business.  One article brought out criticisms of our professions that some in the consumer world have held since the days of Jessica Mitford and her 1963 book entitled “The American Way of Death”.  That article,…

Give Thanks this Thanksgiving

By Funeral Director Daily / November 24, 2020 /

I’m kind of tired of the word “unprecedented”.  It seems every time that I turn around someone is using that term in relation to the world and times we have been living in since February in the United States.  Yes, 2020 is different, but I’m not so sure that it is “unprecedented” for the upstaging…

Possible financial settlement in Michigan funeral home transgender case reported

By Funeral Director Daily / November 24, 2020 /

A little over a year ago we told you of the case of Aimee Stephens and the Harris Funeral Home.  That court case was about to be heard at the United States Supreme Court at that time which would be ruling on whether or not there had been discrimination against a transgender person in a…

Lessons learned from growing up as an FDK (Funeral Director’s Kid)

By Funeral Director Daily / November 19, 2020 /

This article will be published on Friday morning because I figure it won’t be real business like, but it will be something that the reader can carry into the weekend.  Lots of people talk about PK’s – Preacher’s Kids – but there is another group of us who grew up in a funeral home or…

New Mexico funeral home fined for social distancing violation

By Funeral Director Daily / November 11, 2020 /

I woke up this morning (Monday as I write this) to see the Dow Jones Industrial average futures up over 5% on the news that Pfizer has had tremendous success with its Covid-19 vaccination drug trials.  It’s a rainy day in Minnesota so I did my daily run on the treadmill watching Jim Cramer on…

Will regulations kill small town funeral homes

By Funeral Director Daily / October 13, 2020 /

I started to read this linked article from Fort Wayne Business that you can access here with the thought of including another story on a locally owned small town funeral home investing in their community by building new facilities to serve the people of that community.  The article deals with owners Miles and Tarah Wilson…